Automobile-body.



F. SEXON. AUTOMOBILE BODY. APPLICATION FILED r312. 20, I912.

Patented Apr. "15, 1913.

2 SHBETS-SHEET 1.

INVENTOR ATTORNEYS F. SAXON.

AUTOMOBILE BODY.

APPLICATION FILED FEB. 20, 1912.

1,059,220. Patentd Apr. 15, 1913 2 SHEETS-SHEET 2.

WIN/588% mm/roe G\\ Bw vu f'raizk lama)? ATTORNEYS T0131! inborn it may concern STATES PATENT oFrroa.

Beit known that I, FRANK Saxon, a citizen ofthe United States, and a resident of Houston Hei hts in the county of Harris and State-of exss, have invented a new and 1m royed Automobile-Body, of'whieh the tfol owmgss a full, clear, and exact descripion.

The invention relates particularly to the -seat portions of automo ile .bodies, and is designed to provide accommodations for those who desire to indulge in campin touring, hunting and out-door life in genera In neral appearancethe exterior of the body is not changed b my invention from the standard designs 0 regular touring cars, but provision is made. for converting the seats into a couch or bed by providing an improved arrangement of a lazy-back to -a forward seat, to adapt it to assume a horizontal position between a forward and rear seat cushion to form a eouchr l coper support for the lazy-back is rovided both in its he horizontal position.:

The illustrated exampleof my invention is designedfor that form of touring ear in which there is a .large s ace between the a strip on th frbiit andrear seats, an the lazy-backis given such vertical dimensions as to extend. j

sreferably to the floor of the ear to receive irect support therefrommr to contact with floor. The back when thus formed will .be adapted to extend, when horizontal, over the free space between the front I and rear seat cushions. Su port is a car I provided also for the upper end of t e lazyrich, and desirably, tlns is effected by, providing interen aging members respectively on the opposec side ed as of the lazy-back and rear members of t e fixed seat parts.

There is furthermore provided an intermediate support which is at the'rear. of the lazy-bac when the latter is in its normal osition and over and u as -bac is roched to a orizontalposition to ring its lower cm]. above the said intermediate support, to rest on the latter. The

' rear seat portion which co-acts with the front seat cushion and the convertible lazyback, is mounted to be tilted to .con stitute a headrest and obviate, the necessity of carry ing. illows in the car, the tiltingadjusunent of t e said' rear seat being provided for drawin Figure inately upright at the ba n'which the said fm m m m PatentedApr 15,1913. e nui unite Iebrwy so; im.' lerhllp. cram.

while-preserving ahinged member in the seat, which as usual, constitutes a lifting cover for the hamper beneath the seat.

Various other distinguishing features characterizin my improved construction will appear rom lhe more specific description hereinafter to be given in connection with the structural embodiment of my invention illustrated as an example. Reference is to be had to the accompanyformin a part of this specifience indicate corresponding parts in all the figures.

1 is a lon 'tudinal section of an automobile bod ein odyin'g mv iirvention,

the lazy-back o the front stflttjbeingin the" normal position; Fig. 2 is a similar view showing the seat ortiops arranged to constitute a couch;" ig. 8 is a cross sectional view between the seats and looking toward the front seat, the parts being iitljllSietl' as in Fig.1; Fig. 4 is a sectional plan view of the rear seat; Fig. 5 is a transverse vertical section showing one form of the upper support providing a connect-ion between opposed edges of the lazy-back and a fixed seat part; an Fig. 6 is a detail view taken at right angles to Fig. 5.

v The body 10 may beof conventional design, with doors 215711 of any approved arrangement, there being as usual, in tourin cars, a front seat 12 and a rear seat 13. T 1e seat portion 14 of the front seat is fixed and the a ly-back 15 thereof is separately formed toyassume the normal position approxic of the seat portion 14, as in F igs. 1 and 3, or the horizontal position as in big. 2. The vertical dimen' ,sions of the back 15 depend on the make of the car; in many makes there is a space betweenthe front and back seats 12, 13, so short that a lazy-hack extentlin at. the lower edge approximately to the axed ortion 14, will equal the length of the s ace between the front and rear souls. In many cases, however, the cars have a greater space between the 'front and rear seats, and in this instance the lazy-bank, is extended downward as irrthe illustratodeaample. to receive support. either directly on the floor of the car, or on a crossstrip 16', so that the lazy-hack has a bottom support practically along the entire length of its lower edge.

. lazy-back. The bar or equivalent means lo-- being such macaw swin 'n all th A supporting means is provided at the top for thelazy-back, the detail form of which may vary as will be obvious. Preferably, the supportin means at the top takes the form illustrate more par icularly in Figs. 5 and 6, in which interenga'ging members are provided on the opposed side edges respectively of the lazy-bac and a fixed seat part; thus the side edge of a fixed seat partniay'be provided with a fitting 17, consisting of a plate suitably secured in place, and presenting a wedge-shaped member 18 theside edges of which flare upwardly, and which is undercut to give a proximately a T-shape in cross section. a. the opposed edge of the lazy-back a mating fitting 20 is secured, as by a screw 21, an presents an undercut roove 22'to receive the fitting 17. The lazyack may he lifted outward and upward to disenga ic the described mating members when the ack is to be brought to the horizontal position. and when again brought tothe vertical position the seat is dropped into place tocause the said members to engage to constitute the upper support or lock for the back.

A suitable means is provided for atiording support for the lazy back jacent to the fixed seat part, may/vary according toswhcther'the lazybacl: extends downward below the fixed seat part, or terminates approximately at the said seat part 'to'conform with the design of the car.- shown one means for supporting the back adjacent to the fixed seat part and consisting of a horizontal rod 23 secured by its ends in brackets 24, and said rod may ad-' vantageouslybe provided with an elongated friction sleeve 25, ranging along ,the said sated at this point constitutes a brace for the lazy-back adjacent to the fixed seat part when t e said back is in its normal position,

asin Fig.1;2 -'J v a To convert the seats into a couch, the lazyback is lifted out of its upp'r supports and slid and turned on the intermediate support 25 andbrought to the horizontal position 5 own in Fif. 2, whereby the now forward and of the nay-back will rest directly upon the said intermediate support, bearing in the illustrated example, directly on the friction roller 25. Below the rod 24 or its 6 are seciired to the 'rear equivalent, lufi I face of the bee 5, and near the floor of the our links 27 are pivoted at their lower.endsto the car body'ifs at 28, the. free ends of each of said links carrying a cam lever 29, the cam head 80 of which is secured as by a bolt or rivet 81 to the link 27, the arrangement of the links .27 on their pivots 28 w row the cam lovers to a lNHl/Jflltul position to lie along tho llom t the car, as in Fig. 2, or to an at a point ad-- and said means In the illustrated example I have? upward position to bring the cum levers over the lugs 26. In the upper position the rocking of the cam levers causes a cam action between the lugs and the levers, so as to draw the lazy-back down tightlyagainst the bottom rest, as 16.

haveleg supports to sustain the back in the reclining position, then advantageously these legs 32 may be mounted to swing on the robe rail 33. ach leg 32 at the bottom is preferabl bent forwardly to provide a foot 34, whic rests on the our floor when the back its forward end against the rear side of the back, as in Fig. 1, when the back is in the normal position. a Y

It willbe understood that the form and arrangement of the several described supports for the seat back may be varied in practice according to the design of the car and the tastes of the builders or owners, and the full coin lenient of supports described may not be a used in any one car, since less than relied upon to provide the necessary support.

back of the front seat, the seat ortion of the rear seat 13 is so constructe that the cushion part 35 may be tilted upward to constitute a head rests Thus, as; seen in Figshl, 2 and 4, a horizontal frame 86 is i'ovided, consisting of "a rear member and orwardl extending side members, the forward en s of the latter being hin ed as at 37, to the fixed front ortion 38 o the rear seat, and within said ramo there is hinged at its back edge, as at 39, a seat-board 40, forming the cover to the ham er 41 proyided beneath the rear seat. T e boar 40 isaprovided with a finger hole 41 or its equivalent, whereby it may be lifted to swing on its rear'hinges 9; on the other hand the frame 86 carrying the board 40 may be ,tilted upward on i 's 'fronthin es 87 by gras ing the strap 42, or handoldprovide on the rear stri of the said frame 36. On the under sideo the frame 36 at the rear, pro s are provided preferably consisting o vrack bars 43 pivoted as at 44, each adapted to engage by one or the other of its teeth with a pin 45 on the keepers 40, which are secured ithin the hamper 41 at the sides. By lif ing the seat-board 40, access can readily be had to the props 4B fortilting the frame 86 and itrboard 40 to the ddsil'ed' de co to elevate the cushion so constitutin tie head rest. The front end of the lift oard 40 may have a rest to prevent it from dropping into the hamper, there being shown or the purpose in Figs. 1 and 2,-a lug 47 securedto the fixed strip 88 of the rear scat. On the front of the supgortllig structure of the rear seat a bracket 0 may be provldod u a rest for the roar the whole number may reasonably be i ,7!) 'When' it is desirable that the lazy-back, I

is in the horizontal position and contacts by To co-act with the horizontally disposed lllO ing of a fixed acting means near the floor of the vehicle seat back 15 horizontal position. aving thus described my invention, I claim as new, and desire to secure by Letters Patent,

1. A vehicle ing 0 spectively, for locking the seat in the raised position.

3. A vehicle provided with a seat com- A prising a seat proper, and a back extending from adjacent to the bottom of the vehicle upwardly above the seat proper end of the when the latter is in a I said back ex'tendin the same, said vehicle bebottom of and rearward of a v and means for rnishing a support and locktfor the said back at the upper end wh back havin position, said last mentioned above the seat proper, the said upper and lower loc 'ing means for holding it in the raised position, and the back and vehicle having co-acting devices between the back, tically extending grooved elements and corresponding pro ecting elements grooved elements.

2. A vehicle provided with a seat consistroper, and a back fixed seat from able relatively to the position to a h Witnesses:

O. P. WooDBURN,

on the lower end of the seat back re- E. LAYNE. 

